Former Colorado State football players like what they see

GLENDALE -- While all Colorado State fans are anxious to see a return to prominence for the football program, a certain limited collection among them feels a little more vested in the proceedings.

Former players watch the games differently than most, missing the days when they were the ones being watched. Not only that, but winning games.

A loss is still tough to take, even from the couch.

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"It was painful. It was really painful when I still knew the offense," said former tight end Matt Bartz, who played from 2002-05. "(Former coach Steve) Fairchild was running the same offense, and I knew what was supposed to be happening, and you can still see what's supposed to be happening. It is painful, because you know how much work the guys put in and how much fun it is to win."

But the hire of Jim McElwain has a lot of former Rams excited about the future, and many of them have been reached out to by McElwain himself and the current administration. Many of them were part of the crowd Friday night at Infinity Park, an annual practice the football team holds as an outreach to Colorado State alumni. Part of it was a reception for former athletes when practice finished.

Dallas Davis, who played receiver and returned kicks for the Rams from 1997-2001, was one of them, and he spent much of the night talking to old teammates.

"This is great. I love how the university is reaching out to the Denver area," Davis said. "With the number of alumni in Denver, it makes sense. It's great the university is engaging the alumni down here. From a former player's perspective, it's great to see the support that is out there. Before, there wasn't the effort to reach out, so in Fort Collins, you don't feel that."

All involved know putting a winning team on the field is a great step toward creating more interest.

Andre Strode, a defensive back from 1991-94, still follows closely, and as a coach at Valor Christian, has listened to McElwain speak at coaching clinics. He'd love nothing more than to steer some of his players up north and help build the program back the winning ways he experienced as a player.

"You can see it changing," he said. "It usually takes a year or two to get it accumulated with his system. It's going to take a little bit, but I liked his recruiting class. I liked him going with the size, and it looked like he had a bunch of good players in his recruiting class, and it looks like he's doing a good job moving forward."

McElwain has made it known he wants to reach out to the past and keep everybody in the fold. He made a huge statement in that regard last year by making sure that the school ordered a replica of Greg Myers' Jim Thorpe Award Trophy, then let Myers pick a spot at the school where it could be displayed.

He was encouraged to see so many former players come out, a number he hopes to see continue to grow.

"I love it. We'll invite them back for the spring game as well, and then we have a barbeque out on our practice fields where it's just for those guys," McElwain said. "And for our current players and their families, our guys that are currently playing can kind of see who those guys are that really hold the legacy of what this is all about."

Bartz is one of many former Rams who have been welcomed by McElwain in his first year on the job, and what hit him most was the impact he's had on the mentality of the players in his program. Winning will breed a certain confidence, but that was something Bartz said he felt developing even during last season's 4-8 finish.

"Mac says all the right things, and he seems to be acting on all the right things," Bartz said. "Even from players that I've talked to, guys that are part of the program, the demeanor is a whole lot different. That's a big part of it, too, is the attitude. There has to be some sort of swagger to it, and it's hard to get swagger when you're not winning. For him to come in and get a little swagger going coming off some pretty hard seasons, there's got to be something special there. I can buy in and believe in something like that."

They all want to. Some of them still gather with former teammates to grill some food and watch the team play, and they want to re-experience those winning feelings and take them into the office on Monday as bragging rights.

"Of course," Strode said. "I'm always going to be a Ram, and I'm always going to support the program 100 percent."

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